Overview & Reviews

A relative newcomer to the American marketplace, Hyundai is a Korean automaker with a product line that has improved greatly over the past decade. Hyundai cars and SUVs provide a high level of content for an affordable price, and are currently backed by one of the industry's longest warranties.

In 1947, Chung Ju Yung founded the Hyundai Civil Engineering Company. Mere months later, the outfit was bombed in the Korean War. However, the company regained its footing to distinguish itself as one of Korea's leading construction enterprises during the 1950s.

By the late 1960s, Chung had turned his attention to the automobile industry. The Korean government at that time believed that it made more sense to import vehicles than produce them domestically, and had made its opinion known. Still, Chung opted to follow his own convictions, and in 1967, he founded the Hyundai Motor Company.

The company quickly established an alliance with one of the industry's oldest automakers, signing a two-year contract with Ford in 1968 to share assembly technology. Hyundai's first car, the Cortina, was created from that partnership. The manufacturer's first car to be designed and built in Korea was the compact Pony (although the car was based on Japanese technology courtesy of Mitsubishi). The vehicle made its debut in 1974, and the following year Hyundai began exporting it to overseas markets.

Hyundai entered the U.S. market in 1986 with the introduction of its subcompact Excel. The car was an immediate hit, with its supreme affordability being a primary selling point. More than 100,000 Excels were sold stateside in the first seven months. By 1988, Hyundai had begun to produce cars using its own technology. The midsize Sonata was the first fruit borne of this endeavor.

Unfortunately, Hyundai's nascent image was soon tarnished by the poor durability and reliability of its vehicles. Sales tanked. However, rather than abandon the American market in the '90s, Hyundai chose to invest heavily in new product designs and improvements in overall quality and reliability. In 1998, Hyundai also purchased Kia, another Korean automaker, to expand its business and economies of scale.

It all started to pay off by the start of the new millennium, with the 2001 Elantra in particular showing massive improvements in overall quality, reliability and performance. Other models followed suit and the desirability of Hyundai cars increased sharply. Providing an extraordinarily long warranty period didn't hurt either.

Today's lineup is indicative of Hyundai's complete turnaround. Hyundai has a vehicle for nearly every segment, including the economical Accent subcompact, the popular Elantra compact, the midsize Sonata sedan (also available as a hybrid), sporty Genesis and Veloster coupes and a couple of stylish SUVs. Hyundai has also expanded into the entry-level and premium-level luxury sedan markets with its Genesis and Equus sedans. Having gone from being the butt of late-night TV jokes in the 1980s to a well-respected manufacturer of quality vehicles, Hyundai has created a very inspiring rags-to-riches story.

User Reviews:

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  Dream CAr - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Neal OBrien - November 26 - 10:53 pm

  With all its pickup & go, its an absolute pleasure to drive. The added perks like electronic stability control give added peace of mind plus all the other add-ons .

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  a wonderful little SUV - 2008 Hyundai TUCSON
  By awongmath - November 26 - 3:00 pm

  I have owned this little SUV for 15 months now, with nary a service problem or defect. I test drove a RAV4, VUE, Escape, and the CRV; I needed a vehicle that could easily tote my daughters everyday wheelchair and a sport wheelchair. This SUV is roomy (can hold her everyday wheelchair in the back or two medium dog crates w/o putting the rear seat down), is great fun to drive, and the turning radius is good (better than Mazda MPV, about the same as a Camry, not as good as a Volvo or BMW sedan).

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  Ellen - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By ells - November 25 - 10:00 am

  I have had the car since March and love it!! No problems and it rides so nice, love the extras!

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  Great on a budget! - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By Kim in western MA - November 25 - 2:00 am

  I am a college student, and I was able to afford this car on my own! I bought it used with 11K miles on it, and 8 months later my accent has 30K on it! Needless to say, I do a lot of long traveling in it, and its great! So far I havent had any problems with it, and have only brought it to the garage for its scheduled maintenence. I didnt do a lot of shopping around... my dad has an elantra and has great luck with that, so I decided to go with a Hyundai, and this one was right in my price range! Its a great car!

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  Great car! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Xavier Ortega - November 24 - 3:03 pm

  I was not in the market for buying a new car, but just happened to stop by a Hyundai dealership while my old car was being worked on. I fell in love with the looks, the overall fit & finish, the list of std. features, & the performance of the car. Ive had this car for a month now and its fantastic. Still going thru break-in period, so gas mileage is not great. (But as others have commented, need a few more thousand miles). The engine is powerful, 5 speed auto is butter smooth, the car is very quiet on the road. If you dont want to be a "me too" with Camry & Accord, give this car a serious look. GM & Ford, youd better get your act together quickly or else!!

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  Great Car fot the $$$ - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By oceandoc - November 23 - 10:03 pm

  Drove the Camry and Altima, the Sonata gives you the most for the dollar by far. For 1-2 grand less the the other cars, you get leather interior, xm radio, moon roof, individual temp controls and excellent interior trim and alloy wheels. Entertainment controls on the steering wheel. Not quite as quick as the Altima off the line, but adequate power (my last car was a turbo) Huge trunk. The oil filter is on the right way so when change the oil, you wont get an oil bath (surprising how many cars have the oil filter upside down) Smooth ride. I didnt experience any suspension noise going over bumps and highway speeds were just great driving. Dash is well laid out with easy to find controls

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  Veracruz Limited is Unbeatable Value - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By mab67 - November 23 - 9:40 pm

  Compared to Honda Pilot, Mazda CX9, GMC Acadia and a couple of others. Hands down this is the best overall value. Limited package makes this ride similar to the Lexus RX. My brother in law has one - very nice car... but pushing $50,000? Thats crazy. This one is so close to it in power, looks, toys, and build quality that its a no brainer. Just found out that Motor Trend confirmed what I think! (See July, 2007 - Comparo Shock! Hyundai BEATS Lexus) Only had it a week, but wow. This crossover is the perfect soccer mom car (and I get to drive it on the weekend family trips - its a cool rig).

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  I like it! - 1999 Hyundai Elantra
  By debi - November 23 - 2:00 am

  I bought my hyundai as a used vehicle. It had 43,ooo miles ..I think it was a salesmens care... it now has almost 100,000 miles... I have driven this car several times from pa to s.c .. gas milage ranged 36miles/gal.. In the next year i probably will be buying a new vehicle..I feel strongly that I will be considering another Hyundai...

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  Love my Santa Fe! - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By RodanM - November 23 - 2:00 am

  On the first tuneup to my mechanic. He said usually he can look at a new vehicle and pick out items that he predicts will fail or break. He said he cant find anything like that on my Santa Fe. I drive a lot and am very happy with my purchase.

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  Cute and affordable - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Fleur - November 23 - 2:00 am

  I love my Tiburon! It handles wonderfully, and I have never driven a car quite like it. The interior is awsome, it is so comfortable (then again i am a small person 54). I wouldnt recomend this car to someone who is really tall, but for me it is the best car in its price range. I just cant say enough wonderful things about this car. The biggest plus though to me was the side air bag, the fact that they were standard, assured me that this was probably a really safe car.